Tag Archives: nigel hall

Bowlive IV: Night 3, Brooklyn Bowl

by

I covered Bowlive IV, night 3 for The Royal Family Records.  My recap was on Brooklyn Bowl’s site and The Royal Family’s site, so that was cool.  Here’s the words below.  -M

Bowlive IV #3 Recap w/ Nigel Hall, James Casey, Igmar Thomas, and More : Tuesday’s 3/12 show w/ Booker T Jones & More

Bowlive alum Alecia Chakour Band opened the evening on this Bowlive Night 3.  Chakour had her own special guests, the stage was filled with musicians including Cochemea “Cheme” Gastelum (sax, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings) and Igmar Thomas (trumpet.)  Chakour’s vocals got the crowd ready for what was about to happen this evening.

By the time Soulive took the stage, it was a little after 10pm, the sold out crowd  loosened up with a funky, ten minute “Steppin.”  Kraz starts to soulfully play The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” before the stage erupts from Neal Evans’ keyboards.  During Kraz’s shredding solo, the audience were singing “All the lonely people” to the band.  What a moment!

Special guests James Casey (sax, Lettuce/Trey Anastasio Band), and Igmar Thomas, (trumpet) both from Bowlive’s past, joined the stage for “Lenny” and “Vapor”, where on Thomas was literally smoking his trumpet.  No Joke.

DJ Logic then joined the stage and spinned with Soulive on “Tuesday.”  Nigel Hall then came out to end the set, and played keys with Neal.  It was more like a Nigel/Neal keyboard showdown.  At first there were three hands on the keys, and that went into a dance, where Nigel and Neal switch sides with each other at the keyboard.  I thought I saw Nikki Glaspie (drums, Dumpstaphunk) peeking behind James Casey and Igmar Thomas with a tambourine in her hand.  The whole band was smiling, the crowd was smiling, it felt like family.  Someone told me it felt like home.  It was certainly beginning to feel that way.

Just when you thought it was setbreak, Alecia Chakour comes back on the stage to sing duet with Nigel.  If you haven’t seen them before, Alecia can sing exactly, on Nigel’s level with her heavy duty pipes and her vixen voice. At one point, Nigel gets on his knees and sings to Alecia, like he’s begging, the crowd goes nuts, the moment had finally arrived at the Bowl.  This was the quintessential Royal Family Records/Bowlive magic that has become commonplace here in Brooklyn in March. Continue reading →

Bowlive 3, Night 1, 2.28.12

by

photo by: Michael Jurick

So, we’re back – the 3rd annual Bowlive held in Brooklyn’s own Brooklyn Bowl. This is the favorite time of year to be eating lots of fried chicken, hearing bowling pins crash while listening to some of today’s finest musicians in a room where only 600 can comfortably stand, or dance. The first night went off without a hitch. Here’s my recount – it gets increasingly harder to understand my notes as the night goes on….

Pre-show:
No real preshow for me. I got to the Bowl at around 8:15pm, the show didn’t start until 9pm. I dropped my coat and bag off, said some hellos, hit the ladies room, got a drink and settled in for the evening. Chatted with my friend and looked to the right of me, there was John Scofield talking with some people, no less than 4 feet from me. I noted it but couldn’t bring myself to gawk at him. He’s one of my guitar heroes-being so close to greatness made me nervous.

photo by: RuthRocks

First Set:
Soulive alone. The trio (Eric Krasno and brothers Neal and Alan Evans) just came off their three night Snowlive weekend in Boulder Colorado, and they sounded tight. Soulive usually sounds tight but tonight they sounded like they had tightened a few notches up. They played alone, and for the first few songs I was so enthralled I had forgotten guitarist John Scofield was going to join the stage.

The trio just nailed the first set of the Bowlive 3 run, my friend turned to me and said, “first set, eh?”. I laughed and shook my head. It had already gotten heavy with funk and bass… We were only a hour in.

Set break:

Bathroom Run. Smoke Break. Hit the bar. Get back near stage left.

photo by: RuthRocks

Set 2:

Alan introduces John Scofield onto the stage and off we go.

Nigel Hall joined Neal Evans on the keyboard before he grabbed the mic to sing a slow bluesy serenade.
Here are my notes on that:
Nigel slow serenade soulful sexy and raw. 10pm. Organ keys reverb right through The Brooklyn Bowl

Nigel wails. Scofield wails. Organ wails and a hot beat by Alan. Damn. Night 1 w the posse surrounding me, all goo love in the air.

First set. Jesus. It just started and it’s crazy funky souled up in here.

Scofield gives props to Soulive and particularly Nigel. Sweet. They go into Boozin’. Scofield is in love with Nigel. You can see it by his face.

Next, a crazy banter w Scofield and Neal. This rage officially melts the Bowl at 1022 pm.

Set Break: I’m kinda floating at this point. With permagrin wide I made it outside, chatted with friends, and realized I was starving. Good thing the Bowl has some good food.

I dropped my coat and winter crap back near my spot next to the stage and went for food. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had such an idea. So I hit the ladies room instead.

photo by: RuthRocks

Set 3:
Soulive comes on the stage, alone once again. I find a dark corner close my eyes and groove hard in anonymous land. I went there. But I was in dire need of food. So, off to the restaurant!

Food choice? The Beach french bread pizza. Oh my. Lord. Yum. Not for vegetarians but for a pork filled meat lovers delight? I highly recommend. Soulive plays while I wait for my pizza. Food!! Come quickly. They’re raging!

Continue reading →

Bowlive III starts tomorrow at Brooklyn Bowl, NYC 2/28-3/9/12

by

BOWLIVE III:

The chatter and anticipation is humming here in NYC with the return of the 3rd annual Bowlive, Soulive’s 10 day residency at The Brooklyn Bowl. 

Soulive has announced in drips and drabs the special guests, and to be honest with you, this year sounds like the best yet.  I am excited to get it on with my bad self, and the hundreds of other bad selves dancing to great music, incredible jams, loud horns and shredding guitars.  Ah, let Bowlive III begin.

www.royalfamilyrecords.com Continue reading →

Nigel Hall & Alecia Chakour, Rockwood Music Hall 2.13.12

by
photo by: View Skewed

The Royal Family warms up a random February Monday Evening

Jazzy, harmonic sexy duets in honor of St. Valentine, warmed the crowd’s bodies and souls for one hour on a cold Monday evening.

Nigel Hall, keyboards, and Alecia Chakour, vocals, both from the Warren Haynes Band sang a sexy little set in honor of St. Valentine’s, with nine love songs which spanned the spectrum from fusion jazz to rhythm & blues, song by song.  The room was intimate, the stage was intimate and the vibe was laid back.  By the last song, people were dancing, and everyone was smiling.  We became a very happy room.

photo by: View Skewed

My favorite song was Lauryn Hill’s Nothing Even Matters, … the sweet, happy banter between these two… so nice.  Now, just because I’m calling it sweet does not mean that it’s soft.  No, both Hall and Chakour have powerful, soulful voices that kinda swirl around each other in harmonies, making it hard to not sway, smile and be….happy.

Members of The Royal Family Records were the backup band members with Adam Deitch, drums, and Adam “Schmeeans” Smirnoff, guitar, from Lettuce.  Eric Krasno, (Soulive, Lettuce, Chapter 2) came eventually replacing Chakour’s brother, Alex on bass.  Alex Chakour played most of the set, with Krasno playing the last song.

I wonder if this could be the warmup to the Brooklyn Bowl’s  Bowlive.


The Warren Haynes Band, Beacon Theater, May 12, 2011

by

The Warren Haynes Band is out on tour with their first album as a newly formed band including Warren Haynes, guitar, Ron Holloway, sax, Ruthie Foster, vocals, Ron Johnson, bass, Nigel Hall, piano/keys, and Terence Higgins, drums.  (Set List Below.)

Photo by Allison Murphy

The new album, “Man in Motion” has seemingly found a buzz surrounding the cd, and if you judged the response from opening night in NYC, the crowd is equally excited as it was energized.  I haven’t listened to the album yet, I have a penchant for live recordings, but have downloaded it from iTunes and plan to try to decipher the differences between what I heard at Christmas Jam, Wanee Festival and now at The Beacon.

First set at the Beacon, you could feel the energy amped for the Opening night of the Tour.  A heavy Gov’t Mule-head crowd represented.  I was seated next to the soundboard, and had a perfect shot of Warren and his guitar through the crowd. Unfortunately my neighbor had a few too many drinks a few songs too early, and wanted to be a chatty Cathy with me, while Warren and the band were busy playing.  Sorry guy, didn’t mean to be rude but when I go to a show, I go to listen to the music, not chat with strangers.  Sorry.

I was lucky though, one of my gals stopped by and grabbed me to go downstairs to the ladies room.  Thankfully she ended what could have been my torture for the first set, trying to listen and watch the band while some grabby guy wanted to chat and bump into me.  Thank you sister, you saved me from many bruises…

Photo by View Skewed

So – the scene is set, with the exception of the not such the coolest security guards ever, I can finally dance and listen.  They sound great.  The songs range from rock and roll to bluesy soul, to funky horns explosion.

Warren wails on his guitar.  Warren sings.  Warren banters back and forth with the amazing vocalist, Ruthie Foster.  Foster has this sexy, strong voice which she uses as backup vocals for Haynes, and then her power comes out when she banters with Warren’s guitar licks with her voice.  It’s incredible to watch.

Ron Holloway on saxophone.  Holloway is the man.  Click here for more and YouTube Videos.  Continue reading →

The Mothership Landed – Bowlive II, Night 3

by

My Exclusive Jambands Review: HERE


Good lord.…!
Bernie Worrell and his fifteen piece backing band brought The Brooklyn Bowl to its knees last night with the funkiest set I’ve seen in a while. A fifteen minute Mothership > Sweet Chariot > Me and the Boys > Sweet Chariot jam that is still playing in my head. Flashlight and Dr. Funkenstein rounded out the Parliament Tribute.

To be honest – I’m still processing this particular amount of sweaty funk I witnessed last night.

Here’s pictures from photographer Allison Murphy, of www.RuthRocks.com

photo by: Allison Murphy

photo by: Allison Murphy

photo by: Allison Murphy

The First 8 Weeks of 2011 Music, NYC Bound

by

[Ed note: I have been lax in my habit of coming home and writing about every show I see.  Very lax.  That seemed to happen for only a few months in the beginning of this journey, but now it seems to be harder to do every show I see, (yes, I know - crybaby cry...)  I will try to sum up what's been going on in NYC on these dreary wintery nights, where the snow piled high on cement streets, freezing cold winds slapping in my face.... Oh, whilst in the depths of winter, music will warm my bones...]

Bernie Worell, The Bitter End

That Bernie Worrell show with his whacked out jacket, jammin hard with a stage full’a fellas, Will Bernard, 2 saxs, great drummer, trumpet player from PFunk, in the tiny Bitter End club.

Umphree's McGee, Brooklyn Bowl

Umphree’s McGee and all their lightshow bonanza at the Brooklyn Bowl, phewwweee!  That was great fun, and their lights made the Brooklyn Bowl sparkle, there was a haze on the mirrored dance ball over the dance floor.  It was wild, they sounded great, the crowd was psyched and ready to roll with UMG’s surprise Monday night show.

Funky Meters, Brooklyn Bowl

Nigel Hall‘s, vocals/piano, Residency last Wednesday at the Rockwood with all the Royal Family members in the house and then to Brooklyn Bowl to see the funky Meters play with Brian Stoltz, Art Neville, Russell Batiste and George Porter, Jr., the late night at Bembe with some tasty DJ licks by Nutritious, where the night came full circle when Nigel Hall comes to bang on some congas and dance the night away.  Did I say this was a Wednesday…

The insane late night rage at the Blue Note with Sam Kininger, Sax that I wrote about here.

Dr. John, Maceo Parker, Eric Krazno, Photo by Allison Murphy

The killer Soul II Soul Benefit at Brooklyn Bowl with Nigel Hall and the Royal Family folks with Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley.  Horns in the HOUSE.  Dr. John on keys.  Good lord.  Insanity.  Listen here at Archive:

Photo by Robyn Gould

The night at The Beacon Theater with the gorgeous Dickinson Brothers, Cody (drums), and Luther (guitar) opening for Robert Plant’s Band of Joy.  WOW.  First off, the Dickinson Brothers (North Mississippi Allstars), wailed incredibly tight jams my ears couldn’t believe at times that there was only two instruments on the stage.  Then Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, his new band.  Really great to see Robert in the flesh, dancing and singing perfectly.  Voice sounds great, the band is filled with string instruments and great singers.  Sweetness.

Insane funky music melts icy NYC

by

Tonight’s Agenda, Saturday February 5, 2011:

photo by: Allison Murphy

Le Poisson Rouge: Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 w/ special guests James Hurt, Maurice Brown, Chris Loftin & Nikki Glaspie opening for Big Sam’s Funky Nation w/ special guest Christian Scott

Aftershow: The Blue Note, NYC: Sam Kininger Band w/ special guests James Hurt, Nigel Hall, Maurice Brown, Ivan Neville, Eric Krasno, Nikki Glaspie

Two horn playing Sam’s (Sam Williams, trombone from Big Sam’s Funky Nation) and Sam Kininger (saxophone, Sam Kininger Band) played in the west village last night… it was Sam Squared.  Let me see, I’m going to try to recount as best as I can.

I’m not a big fan of Le Poisson Rouge – drinks are pricey, the ceiling is low, it’s cramped, loud and dark.  But Big Sam’s Funky Nation rolled in from New Orleans, and the Royal Family’s Chapter 2 w/ Eric Krasno (guitar; Chris Loftin, bass; Nikki Glaspie, drums; Nigel Hall, keys & vocals) were in town.  I could deal with Le Poisson Rouge for this throwdown.  The place was vibrating it was so amped, the crowd was ready to get down.

photo by: Allison Murphy

I don’t have a set list so I can’t recount the songs, but what I remember was a bit of Beatles covers sprinkled in with some dirty funk.  Loud, deep, in your face beats with Nigel Hall on vocals (see below for a video and a taste of his talent), and Eric Krasno’s lightning fingers on the guitar.

James Hurt (keyboards) takes over from Nigel’s spot on the keys and it seemed like he couldn’t get the equipment to work for a second. The next thing I see on stage is this guy going crazy on the keyboards…

photo by: Allison Murphy

Like, standing/sitting/falling off his chair and still playing the keyboards “crazy”.  A few minutes later there is a horn explosion on stage with Big Sam, Maurice Brown and another trumpeter (whom I don’t know his name) and it’s gone insane.  Nigel wails in the mic; Chris Loftin, a big guy with a big bass, dances around the stage with a permagrin on his face; Nikki G. on drums keeps the beat fast and loud, prodding the rest of the band to keep up with her.

Yeah.  That’s what I’m talking about.  This was just the opening band.

photo by: Allison Murphy

Big Sam is great.  He’s always a lot of fun, a lot of energy and great sounding, dancing, shaking your hips kind of music. He did the get on the floor real low thing, he got the girls on the stage at the end, there was a Hey Poky Way and Sneakin’ Sally Thru the Alley.  There was Mardi Gras beads in the crowd, the NOLA faction of the city well represented.  Again, if you like horns, if you like great funk, if you like to dance with your hands in the air and shake your booty to some fun New Orleans jazz, go see Big Sam’s Funky Nation. Seriously, he blows you away.

photo by: Allison Murphy

The buzz was catch the Sam Kininger Band over at the Blue Note Jazz Club a few blocks away.  Sam on sax and Nikki G. from Chapter 2 earlier in the night were on the stage, and it wasn’t until I sat down that I realized who I had been hearing from the bar area.

Ivan Neville on keyboards (where did he come from?), Maurice Brown on trumpet, Eric Krasno on guitar, Nigel Hall on vocals, James Hurt again from Chapter 2′s set on keys, and it was way out of control.  Nikki G. on those drums commanded the attention again, she was so amazingly good.  I, and I know a few others who just were blown away.

photo by: Allison Murphy

There were about 30-40 people there at the most, the place was empty.  This jam session that ended at 3:15 am Sunday morning was one of those moments that you felt the special vibe in the room, where friends, artists and fans alike sit in awe.  The YouTubes below give a taste of what went down at The Blue Note last night.

photo by: Allison Murphy

(Editor’s Notes:  Funky sh*t goes down at The Blue Note at 2:54am….slow rolling funk, bass low, sax and trumpet through the air, reeds squealing in the saxophone.  Amongst the funkiest, Ivan Neville on the Baby Grand to join in on the funk.  Krasno’s fingers are at lightning speed on the neck of the guitar, playing it for all it’s worth, Nikki going sick on the drums.)

I have no words.  The whole evening was like slow foreplay until The Blue Note’s explosion at 3am.  I’m still recovering.

photo by: Allison Murphy